Chapter 6: The Call From the Dead
Claire stared at the screen.
The phone continued ringing in her hand.
Nobody in the ballroom moved.
Daniel looked at the name.
*MOM.*
His eyes went to Claire.
“Answer it.””
She shook her head.
“Daniel…”
“Answer it.””
“I can't.””
“Why?””
“Because she’s dead.””
Richard suddenly crossed the room.
“Give me the phone.””
Claire stepped away.
“No.””
His voice hardened.
“Claire.””
“No!””
It was the first time Daniel had heard her scream at her father.
Richard stopped.
Claire’s hands shook so badly that the phone nearly slipped from her fingers.
The ringing stopped.
For one second, silence returned.
Then the phone rang again.
Same name.
Same number.
Daniel walked toward her.
“Put it on speaker.””
Claire stared at him.
“What?””
“You heard me.””
“I can't.””
“Then I'll do it.””
He reached for the phone.
Claire pulled it against her chest.
“I said no.””
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Your mother has been dead for six years.””
“I know.””
“Then who is calling you?””
Claire's face crumpled.
“I don't know.””
Richard's voice cut through the room.
“Nobody answers that call.””
Daniel turned.
“Why?””
“Because it’s a scam.””
Michael laughed bitterly.
“No.””
Richard glared at him.
“You stay out of this.””
Michael shook his head.
“The number isn't spoofed.””
Richard's expression changed.
Daniel caught it.
“You know the number.””
Richard said nothing.
Michael looked at Claire.
“Don't you?””
Claire backed toward the wall.
“I know.””
Daniel looked between them.
“Then tell me.””
Claire stared at the screen.
“It’s my mother’s old number.””
Daniel felt a chill.
“Still active?””
“No.””
“Then who has it?””
Claire whispered, “Nobody.””
The phone stopped ringing.
A notification appeared.
*Voicemail — 1:17*
Daniel looked at Claire.
“Play it.””
She shook her head.
“Please.””
“No.””
“Claire.””
She finally hit play.
Static.
A faint rustling sound.
Then a woman's voice.
“Claire?””
Claire's knees almost gave out.
She grabbed the back of a chair.
The voice continued.
“You need to leave the ballroom.””
Daniel froze.
It was an older woman's voice.
Soft.
Breathy.
Almost exactly like the voice in the family videos Claire had once shown him.
Claire's mother.
“Claire,” the voice repeated, “your father knows.””
The message ended.
Claire stared at the phone.
Daniel looked at Richard.
“What does he know?””
Richard's face was unreadable.
Michael stepped forward.
“He knows someone found the ledger.””
Daniel frowned.
“What ledger?””
Richard suddenly shouted, “Enough!””
Every head in the ballroom turned.
For the first time, the controlled mask slipped from his face.
He looked furious.
“Everyone leaves now.””
One of the hotel managers approached.
“Sir, we can't—”
“Cancel the reception.””
Daniel stepped in front of him.
“No.””
Richard looked at him.
“This isn't your decision anymore.””
“My wedding is.””
“Not after what I just told you.””
“You sold my company without my permission.””
“I exercised a contractual right.””
“You stole it.””
Richard's mouth tightened.
“You're not in a position to accuse anyone of theft.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“Where is the ledger?””
Richard didn't answer.
Michael did.
“Your mother's first office.””
Daniel looked at him.
“The office that supposedly got demolished?””
Michael nodded.
“It wasn't demolished.””
“Then where is it?””
“Under the old warehouse.””
Daniel stared.
“What warehouse?””
Emily suddenly spoke.
“The first warehouse your company rented.””
Daniel remembered it.
A crumbling brick building near the railway line.
He hadn't been there in years.
His company had moved after a flood.
But there had never been another office under it.
At least, he didn't think there had been.
Claire slowly lowered the phone.
“Daniel.””
He turned.
“I need to tell you something.””
Richard immediately said, “No.””
Claire ignored him.
“My mother didn't die in an accident.””
Daniel stared at her.
“What?””
“My father told everyone she had a stroke.””
Richard's face became rigid.
Claire continued.
“She didn't.””
“Claire,” Richard warned.
“She was scared.””
Daniel's stomach turned.
“Why?””
“Because she found the ledger.””
Michael stepped closer.
“What happened to her?””
Claire looked at her father.
Then she whispered, “She disappeared first.””
Daniel waited.
“Then six months later, my father said she was dead.””
Emily’s eyes widened.
“You never told me that.””
“I was twenty-three.””
“You told me she died in the hospital.””
“That's what Dad told me.””
Daniel looked at Richard.
“And you believed him?””
Claire laughed through tears.
“I had no reason not to.””
Michael's face tightened.
“You had every reason.””
“What does that mean?””
Michael pulled another document from his coat.
“A death certificate.””
Daniel took it.
He read the name.
*Margaret Morgan.*
Date of death.
Six years ago.
Cause of death.
Cardiac arrest.
Everything appeared normal.
Then Daniel saw the bottom.
The attending physician's signature.
He knew that name.
“Dr. Samuel Reed.””
Michael nodded.
“Read the address.””
Daniel did.
His eyes narrowed.
It was not a hospital.
It was a private medical clinic.
“Why?””
“Because she was never admitted to a hospital.””
Daniel looked at Claire.
“Did you ever see her body?””
Claire went pale.
“No.””
“Did you attend a funeral?””
“No.””
“Was there a burial?””
“I—I don't remember.””
Michael answered.
“There wasn't.””
Richard finally spoke.
“Because she was cremated.””
Michael shook his head.
“No.””
Richard's voice became dangerously quiet.
“You're going to regret this.””
Michael didn't blink.
“I've regretted trusting you for six years.””
Daniel's phone buzzed.
He looked down.
A message from the same unknown number.
*Don't trust the woman pretending to be Margaret.*
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
Another message appeared.
*Your mother-in-law isn't dead.*
Then another.
*But she isn't the woman who just called Claire.*
Daniel looked at Claire.
“What does that mean?””
She shook her head.
“I don't know.””
Michael took the phone from him.
“Show me.””
Daniel handed it over.
Michael read the messages.
His expression darkened.
“This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.””
“What wasn't?””
Michael looked toward the windows.
Someone had drawn the curtains.
“Your mother was supposed to meet someone tonight.””
“Who?””
“I don't know.””
“Then why are you here?””
“Because she asked me to protect you.””
Daniel stopped.
“My mother asked you?””
Michael nodded.
“When?””
“Yesterday.””
Daniel stared.
“She knew you'd be here tonight.””
“She knew?””
“She knew Claire's father was going to make a move.””
Daniel looked toward his mother.
She was listening.
She finally whispered, “I asked him to come.””
Daniel turned.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because you were getting married.””
“That doesn't make sense.””
“I wanted you to have one normal day.””
Daniel almost broke.
“Mom, none of this is normal.””
“I know.””
His mother walked toward him.
She reached into her coat.
Her fingers searched inside the lining.
Then she removed a tiny brass key.
She placed it in his hand.
“Your father and I found this twenty years ago.””
Daniel looked at it.
“What does it open?””
“The drawer.””
“What drawer?””
“The one your father told you never existed.””
Frank stepped forward.
“Evelyn.””
She turned toward him.
“It has to stop.””
Frank's expression collapsed.
“What happened?””
“I found the papers.””
“What papers?””
She looked at Daniel.
“The original agreement.””
Richard suddenly laughed.
“Do you really think that key changes anything?””
Daniel looked at him.
“What agreement?””
His mother answered.
“The one that says your company was never Richard's.””
Daniel's breath caught.
“What?””
Richard's smile disappeared.
His mother continued.
“Your grandfather owned the original property. Your father inherited it. The company was built on land belonging to your family.””
Daniel looked at Frank.
“Dad?””
Frank nodded slowly.
“It’s true.””
Daniel stared.
“Then why did Richard get control?””
Frank's voice was barely audible.
“Because I signed something.””
“What?””
“A debt guarantee.””
Richard smiled again.
“Now you understand.””
Daniel looked at him.
“You used my father's guarantee.””
“Yes.””
“To take the company.””
“Yes.””
“And my mother’s investment.””
Richard nodded.
“And Claire's.””
Claire looked at Daniel.
“I didn't know about the rest.””
Daniel looked down at the brass key.
“Where is the drawer?””
His mother pointed toward Richard.
“He knows.””
Richard didn't speak.
Frank did.
“In the old warehouse.””
Michael checked his watch.
“We need to go now.””
Daniel looked at the ballroom.
His wedding guests were staring at him.
His bride was crying.
His father looked broken.
His mother looked exhausted.
And Richard looked almost calm again.
Too calm.
Daniel turned to him.
“You sold my company ten minutes ago.””
Richard smiled.
“You can't stop it.””
“Maybe not.””
Daniel slipped the key into his pocket.
“But I can find out what you were so afraid I'd see.””
Richard's eyes hardened.
“Don't go to that warehouse.””
Daniel took one step closer.
“Why?””
Richard didn't answer.
Michael stepped beside Daniel.
Emily followed.
Frank looked at his son.
“I’m coming with you.””
His mother nodded.
“So am I.””
Claire hesitated.
Then she stepped forward.
“I'm coming too.””
Daniel looked at her.
“Why?””
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“Because whatever is in that drawer…”
She looked at her father.
“…is why he made me marry you.””
Richard suddenly moved.
He knocked a champagne glass from the nearest table.
It shattered across the floor.
Then he whispered something into his phone.
Daniel couldn't hear the words.
But Michael could.
He went pale.
“What did he say?””
Daniel looked at him.
Michael swallowed.
May you like
“He just told someone to burn the warehouse.””
And before anyone could react, the ballroom lights went out.
